Scientists want kids' help

August 01, 2008

RAPID CITY (AP) - Entomologists are calling on elementary children to become junior biologists and help look for rare ladybugs in South Dakota. Mike Catangui of South Dakota State University and Louis Hesler of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are leading researchers in the Lost Ladybug Project. The project began at Cornell University in New York and is spreading across the nation as more and more researchers and children are on the lookout for the rare beetles. Lady beetles, commonly called ladybugs or ladybirds, are especially important to agricultural states such as South Dakota. ''They provide a 'free' service to farmers and gardeners because they eat insects that can reduce crop yields,'' Catangui said. Since the 1970s, however, lady beetles native to the United States and South Dakota have been disappearing quickly. In South Dakota, researchers are looking for nine-spotted, two-spotted and transverse lady beetles. The reason for the decline is still unknown, but researchers suspect that the swelling populations of nonnative Asian lady beetles may have something to do with it. Researchers do not yet know the full effects of the ladybugs' disappearance, according to Catangui. ''When a species of living thing disappears, the consequences are hardly ever good,'' he said. Last month, Catangui and Hesler found a pair of nine-spotted, or C9, lady beetles in Badlands National Park, a species that has not been seen in South Dakota for more than 30 years. The Lost Ladybug Project has two components, according to Catangui and Hesler. The first part involves entomologists and graduate students nationwide investigating conservation, biodiversity and invasive insect species, such as the Asian beetle. The second part encourages elementary-age children to participate in ''citizen science.'' ''Ladybugs appear to be universally appealing to 5- to 11-year-old children anywhere in the world,'' Catangui said. ''As research subjects, ladybugs can be harmlessly handled and observed even by children.'' Catangui can be contacted at catangui.michael@ces.sdstate.edu or 605-688-4603. Hesler can be contacted at Louis.Hesler@ars.usda.gov or (605) 693-5228 --- On the Net http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/icb344/Lost-Ladybugs.htm